Kingfisher

Species:Halcyon smyrnensis Family:HalcyonidaeCanon 7D, Canon 400mmfor a better version please visit:http://www.indianaturewatch.net/displayimage.php?id=395652 

GREAT BLACK WOODPECKER

Species:Dryocopus martius
Family:Picidae
Canon 7D, Canon 400mm

for a better quality image please visit:
http://www.indianaturewatch.net/displayimage.php?id=395303

SAMBAR

Canon 7D,Canon 400mm 
Species:Rusa unicolor
Family:Cervidae

for a better version please visit :
http://www.indianaturewatch.net/displayimage.php?id=394776

Changeable Hawk Eagle

Changeable Hawk Eagle 
Species:Nisaetus cirrhatus
Family:Accipitridae
Camera body: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon 400mm prime

for a better version please visit :
http://www.indianaturewatch.net/displayimage.php?id=394102

Bandipur Wildlife Tour

It was a amazing tour to the Bandipur National Park on the 8,9,10 of February.the price was 10000 per head inclusive of transport,food ,accomodation and four safaris into the national park.
a total of five participants had Registered
finally the day arrived .

                                          DAY 1

we left Bangalore at 9am in the morning in a tempo traveller
Stopped at Indradhanush near Channapatna for some hot delicious Dosas and kesari bath
resuming our journey we entered Mysore where another participant joined us and we direcctly started towards The Bandipur National Park.reached around 2.30 pm where we were ghreeted by the forest officials who were very helpful in making us comfortable.the government rooms were very well kept with clean bathrooms.
As we walked towards our cottage we were greeted by a herd of spotted deers(Chitals),Bonnets macaques and a family of wild boar........freshing up we were already with our camera to shoot the birds.........a lot of birding can be done around the forest department cottages.by the time we finished we were informed thta our bus was ready for the safari
the forest gaurd was very hospitable to us understanding our passion and respect for wildlife he gave us each individual seats our bus driver Salim at first was a rude man to others who were shouting there way through out the safari BUT AS WE DROVE INTO THE JUNGLE HE COULD UNDERSTAND OUR BEHAVIOUR AND STARTED BEING MORE FRIENDLY WITH US THAT WAS THE START
Salim to be mentioned here is a very good spotter along with one of our participantMr.Chandan who was very good at spotting even the smallest birds aswe entered the yere katte a water hole completely dried up we found a herd of elephants with a calf probably 2 or 3 months the adults took him to safety not even showing the young one...........a alarm call somewhere far made us jump in wxictement we drove our way towards the alarm zone to be dissappointed just found the leopard pug mark.it was already dusk and the light was very low making us very difficult to shoot finally we finished the safari and drove back to the cottages where we were showed Nagarhole:Tales from Indian Jungle a amazing movie by Mr.Shekar Dattari
then our dinner was ready hot chapatis,along with two vegetable sabjis,rice,curry,rasam and curd along with papad was ready......yummmmmmmmy food it was had stomach full and we departed to our rooms wishing each other good night

                                            DAY 2

The cottage incharge woke us at about 5.30 am we could still see the spotted deers resting there we cursed our luck when the gaurd told us that a leopard had visited the campus last night.....hot coffee was served to us in the dining area sipping our hot coffee we were ready for another trail in the Zone 1 of the jungle with Salim again as our bus driver........heading from the reception road we came across variety of birds like the White throated kingfisher,bee eaters,flame back woodpecker,lapling,painted stork,blackibis,robin,drango,green pigeon when our alert driver stopped the vehicle sensing something !!!!!!!

A male tiger had just crossed the road his wet pug marks were still intact we waited for long bt couldnt locate him.......we drove into the ZONE 2 seeing if we have any luck but were satisfied by spotting a tusker and a herd of sambar deer which are said to be the favourite prey for tigers......driving back to the cottage hot breakfast was ready with Poori and Vegetable Sabzi along with Avalakki kaata meetha chatni 

wewent into our rooms took a hot bath (the cottages have 24 hours hot water and solar lights) 

a time of 1 hr was given for the participants to freshen up and after everyone was ready we drove towards the Himavad Gopalswamy Hills.......going in we had Darshana of Lord Krishna who resides on this hill which is said to be covered by mist through out the year.............we got in line shooting the breath taking landscapes to the one side which has a raven and the other side which is a chain of hills.....and not to forget the participants asking tips from me and me asking tips from them it was a fun session enjoyed by all teaching each other it was time to return to our camp lunch was ready by the time we arrived

having luch we got ready for our next safari which was given to us by the forester to go in a jeep

we drove when we spotted two changeble hawk eagle which were beautiful shooting them to hearts content we drove forward when we spotted a wood pecker creeping out of a hole in the tree spent 20 mins shooting his different poses and activities......as we requested him he moved us to the Zone 3 near the Mangala Dam where we were informed a tiger was trying to come to the water hole which was being blocked by a tusker .....we reached the water hole i directed Saim to turn off the jeep as we has a lot of time to spend after waiting for some 10 mins the young fawn stated his alarm calls everyone were alerted after playing a majestic beauty emerged from the bush a male tiger maybe a year or two as the alar call grew louder the Tusker chased the King out of the waterhole  we were satisfied just by seeing him moving back from there we reached Moor Kere in Zone 2 where a herd of sambars were playing in water..photographing them for long we departed to our cottage and agian met up for a discussion time where each participant tells their tour experience and talk a few words about the fellow participants

After this we ended it up had a heart diner with an addition of mouth watering pepper chicken to the menu on our request
folded up for the day and retired to our rooms for a good sleep.

                                              DAY 3

Waking up in cold is something which i hate right from childhood it was so chilly norning that some people were shivering dresssed in perfect camouflague we drove inside the jungle in Salims vehicle into Zone 2 where we found a dead elephant calf.....the mothere elephant was standing a few feet away inside the bush

later came to know that it died during its birth drove for long when something flashed and it was a beautiful full grown leopard in the golden light.bu he was too fast even for cameras to capture it.reaching the welsely road we found a young sambar near a water hole looking at a direction and stamping his foot onto the ground thought we encountered a predator again after doing the same for a long time the sambar ran away into the forests cursing our luck and enjoying our safaris in spotting a lot ogf birds we came back to the cottage bid Salim a fareweel telling we would be back here soon.Having breakfast with the menu of Pongal and Uppittu  and having a cup of coffee we drove back towards bangalore.With every participant complimenting the Jungle Book for such a good trip:) :)

first venture was successful trip :) for such other tours please contact

Harsha Narasimhamurthy:7259621244

or visit our facebook page 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jungle-Book/245326005603383

Hanuman Langaur